A Chesapeake blue crab was recently spotted on the shores of Ireland. Now Irish officials are trying [View all]

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A Chesapeake blue crab was recently spotted on the shores of Ireland. Now Irish officials are trying to figure out how it got there.

Chesapeake blue crab spotted along Ireland shore. How local experts believe it got there | WTOP
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https://t.co/8YilPmTIle?amp=1

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Allison Colden, a fisheries scientist with the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, agreed that it’s unlikely the crab swam itself over to Ireland.

Instead Colden said it could have been transported there by a boat through its ballast water.

“Large ocean going ships have to take on a significant amount of water as ballast when they unload so that they can remain stable as they make these long ocean crossings,” she said. “So that is one of the main ways that species are introduced in new places.”

Experts say it’s more likely the blue crab made its way over from the Mediterranean. Some blue crabs were introduced there decades ago and McClair said because of that they have encountered blue crabs in the Bay of Biscay.

6:15 AM · Mar 20, 2021

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Other theories in the story; more here maybe https://baltimore.cbslocal.com/2021/03/19/chesapeake-blue-crab-spotted-on-shores-of-ireland/